Improvement in sacking attachments for thrashing-machines



"W. MASTERTON. Sacking-Attachments for-Thrashing-Machines. NO.139,073. Patented May20.l873.

Vitnesses .m PiIOTO-LIT/IOGR/IPH/C 00. MY ossaleus's PRocsssJ UNITEDSTATES PATENT QFFICE.

WALTER MASTERTON, OF STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SACKING ATTACHMENTS FOR THRASHlNG-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 139,073, dated May 20,1873; application filed February 6, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER MASTERTON, of Stockton, San Joaquin county,State of California, have invented an Improved Grain- Sacking Attachmentfor Thrashing-Machines and I do hereby declare the following descriptionand accompanying drawing are sufficient to enable any person skilled inthe art or science to which it most nearly appertains, to make and usemy said invention or improvement, without further invention orexperiment:

My invention relates to a grain-sacking attachment to thrashing-machineswhich is so constructed that the sacks can be suspended clear of theground, and properly stretched while they are being filled by the jointaction of the weight of the grain and the blows of a vibrating lever orstriker against their lower ends or bottoms. justable so as toaccommodate sacks of different sizes, and are so arranged that the sackscannot be torn.

In order to more fully illustrate and explain my invention, reference ishad to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, inwhich- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my sacking attachment. Fig. 2 isa vertical sectional view. Fig. 3. is a front view.

A represents a vertical tube or. elevator, which is to be attached to athrashing-machine in the proper position, to allow the grain as it comesfrom the thrasher-shoe to be caught by the vertical anger or elevator inthe tube, and carried to the upper end of the elevator, where it isdischarged through an opening in the side of the elevator at G, into abox or hopper, B. This box B is secured to the upper end of the elevatorat an angle, so that its bottom will be inclined thus causing the grainto move to the lower end of the box, where an opening, d, is made in thebottom, through which the grain will flow into the sacks. Thesack-holding attachment is secured to a ledge, G, on the under side ofthe box B, and a sliding cut-off, D, is arranged to be moved across theopening d, between the ledge. and the bottom of the box, by means of alever, c, where it is desired to stop the flow of the grain. Adownward-projectin g flange or plate, 0, is secured trans- Thesack-holders are adversely across the under side of the ledge G, betweenthe opening d and the elevator. A hanger, f, depends from the bottom ofthe box on each side of the ledge, and nearly opposite the ends of theflange 6, so as to provide a bearing for the opposite ends of a shaft,h, which passes across the ledge below the lower edge of the plate orflange 6. A curved lip or griping plate, 1', is secured to the shaft h,near each end, so that their ends will bear against the outside of theflange c, and a lever arm, j, is secured to each end of the same shaftat right angles to the griper lip, which, by their superior length andweight, serve to keep the ends of the gripcrsi pressed against the sideof the plate. The portion of the sackholder upon the opposite or outsideof the opening (I is attached to the ends of two adjustable rack-bars,k, one of which is secured upon each side of the ledge in a staple, I,so that the bar can be moved in or out as desired, according to the sizeof the mouth of the sack. The holding device upon this side of theopening is constructed similar to the one above described, the shaft hbeing supported in the extremities of the downward curved ends of thebars k, while the griping-plates i i press against the outer face of'thetwo plates m m which project downward from the cross-plate which tiesthe two bars together.

To guard against tearing the sacks I secure them in position to befilled by first wrapping each of the four quarters of the mouth of thesack over the lever-arms j, and then placing the edges of the mouth ofthe sack between the lips or curved griping-plates i i, and outer faceof the flanges c m, so that the weight of the sack depending from thelever-arms will tighten the pressure and hold them firmly in place. Anelastic pad can be secured to the outside of flanges or plates 0 m, ifdesired, so that one of the surfaces will be yielding but when I use ametal surface I form two parallel ribs, 0 o, longitudinally with theplates between which the ends of the lips or gripingplates *6 i willpress the edges of the sack.

The lever-arms j j are of greater length and weight than thegriping-plates i i, and consequently serve by overbalancing them to keepthem pressed against the stationary surface at all times, and the weightof the sacks depending wholly from these lever-arms will press thesurfaces together with such force that they cannot possibly be releasedwithout first displacing the gripes. Secured to one end of each of theshafts h h is a fixed leverarm, p, which extends from the shaft at anangle downward, the weight of which also aids in keeping thegripingplates pressed against the stationary surfaces. A cord, q, issecured to the extremity of these levers, so that, by pulling upwardupon the cord, the shafts h h will be revolved simultaneously and thegripers lifted from the stationary surface, so as to free the fourcorners of the filled sack at once and allow it to fall of its ownweight.

The sack-holder is placed at a sufficient height from the ground topermit all ordinarysized sacks to swing clear; and as it is a wellknownfact that the bottom of the sack must be thoroughly filled before it ishalf filled, or else it cannot be properly filled afterwards, I have inaddition to suspending the whole weight of the grain in the sackprovided a vibrating lever, B, to strike a series of blows in rapidsuccession against its bottom. This lever will be operated by a crank onthe same shaft of the thrashing-machine by which the elevating part ofthe sacker is driven. On the end of the lever which is attached to thethrashing-machine, I have placed one or more spiral springs s for thetwo-fold purpose of striking the blows against the sacks, and forpermitting the cranks to start only a part of the weight of the blowfrom a state of rest.- By this means I avoid the sudden strains on theshaft which would attend the starting of the full weight of the blow atonce.

The box B will have suflicient capacity to contain all of the grain thatwill be thrashed While the attendant charges the sacks.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Pat cut, is-

1. The griping attachment, consisting of the transverse shafts it h,with their gripingplates i i, lever-armsj j, and operating-levers p, incombination with the stationary vertical plates 0 m, when said platesare provided with a yielding or ribbed surface, substantially as and forthe purpose above described.

2. The adjustable rack-bars 7c 70,- with their movable sack-gripingattachment, in combination with a stationary griping-attachment upon theopposite side of the opening, (1, substantially as and for the purposeabove de scribed.

3. The vibrating'lever R, substantially as and for the purpose abovedescribed.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand and seal.

ALTER MASTERTON. [L. s]

Witnesses:

L. E. 0111011111), GEO. \V. SPERRY.

